


Reaching Out

by probablynotadalek



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Force-Sensitive Han Solo, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 09:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15749160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/probablynotadalek/pseuds/probablynotadalek
Summary: In which Ben smirks, Luke cries, and Han Solo feels all sorts of uncomfortable.





	Reaching Out

**Author's Note:**

> I know that Force-Sensitive Han has been beat to death but here I am with a stick and some enthusiasm.

Han walked into the main room of the Falcon, hoping for a little food and some quiet time. Inviting a kid and an old man onto his ship had seemed like a terrible idea in Mos Eisley and it wasn’t proving more fun in practice. Ben spouted crazy stories about the Jedi and the Force, and Luke soaked up every word. Han was caught between feeling sorry for the kid and laughing, but thinking about the amount of money a princess would be worth kept him quiet. 

Instead of peace and sanity, he found Ben sitting at the table, hands folded and eyes closed. He looked asleep, or maybe dead, and Han sat down to watch for signs of life. 

Ben’s chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Han watched him, entranced, as Ben barely moved.

“What are you doing?” Han said suddenly.

Ben opened his eyes slowly. “I’m feeling the force. It’s gathered here.”

Han laughed and leaned against the table. “I thought the force could only be with people.”

Ben smiled and shook his head, like Han was the misguided fool. “The force doesn’t just connect people.” He said, with surety that reminded Han of his most successful lies. “It connects everything. It exists in ever star, every planet, every grain of sand.” He looked Han in the eyes and raised his eyebrows as if he was revealing some great secret and not telling a fairy tale. “Every broken down old ship.”

“Uh huh.” Han drawled. 

“It gathers around important things. It protects them, makes sure they go where they need to be. That’s why a Jedi never loses their lightsaber, and why you ended up with the Falcon.”

“I won the Falcon because I’m smart, not because it’s magic.”

“It’s strong here.” Ben continued with a glint in his eye. “It’s strong with you.”

Han raised his eyebrows and pointed to his chest. “Me?” Ben smiled and nodded. “That’s how I know you’re crazy, old man. I’ve never felt any force.”

“No? How many times have you beat impossible odds? How do you dodge every imperial ship, every asteroid? Why are you always in the right place, at the right time, with the right plan?” Ben leaned back. “Unless you think you’re just lucky.”

Han scoffed. “It’s not luck.”

“No.” Ben smiled. “It’s not.”

***

Han laid awake staring at the ceiling long after he had left Chewie alone in the cockpit. He thought back to what Ben had said to Luke earlier. ‘Reach out with your mind’, or something like that.

“Nothing better to do.” Han muttered to no one as he closed his eyes. 

At first, there was just blackness. Han was ready to give up on the whole venture and expose Ben for the crazy man he was. Then a single star appeared in his mind’s eye, almost like a dream. Other stars filled in the space behind it, always distant or dying. The remnants of a supernova were the only thing close to that solitary star. The star flickered and burned, shrinking like it was about to collapse in on itself. It seemed sad, almost, and Han wanted to move closer to it but was unsure of how to do so. Suddenly the image shifted to the Falcon’s central room. Shadowy people moved about it like ghosts running and swarming and ignoring the figure shaking on the couch.

Han sat up with a start. “Go.” Something whispered to him, and he went. He found himself half-walking, half-pulled through the Falcon until he faced the image from his vision. 

At the sound of his footsteps, Luke looked up. His eyes were red and watery, and his body was shaking. 

“What are you doing down here?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Luke said softly and sniffled. 

“Me neither.” Han walked over to him, slowly and gently. “Anything worth sharing?”

Luke shrugged and hung his head. “I’ve never left Tatooine.” Han had figured as much. For most people, the Empire was the only way off their home planets. “I’ve never made it much farther than Mos Eisley. Definitely never been to space.” Luke hugged himself a little closer. “It’s cold.”

“Lot different from the desert, huh?” Han opened a storage compartment under one of the seats and pulled out a thick blanket. “At least there’s no sand up here.” Han smiled as he wrapped the blanket around Luke’s shoulders. Luke didn’t look up. Instead, he grabbed the blanket with both hands and pulled it tight around him.

Han sat down on the bench next to him. “What's wrong, kid?”

The following silence made Han wonder if he had asked the wrong question, or if he should have kept talking, before Luke started crying. Han instantly decided that he prefered the silence as he tried to figure out what to do. He placed a hand on Luke’s back and patted it softly, twice.

Thankfully, before Han could do something stupid like hug him or leave or start crying too, Luke started talking.

“My aunt and uncle are dead.” He sobbed. Han froze. “They raised me, and the empire killed them. I found them-- their bodies-- burned outside our house.” Luke started speaking faster, as if once his grief had found a release it refused to stop. “A part of me wants to march straight up to the Emperor and tear him apart with my bare hands but mostly--”

Luke stopped and looked up at Han. His eyes were red and puffy, tears still spilling out of control. “Mostly I just want to cry.” 

Han reached out and Luke all but fell into his arms. He was uncomfortable, and his leg was falling asleep, and he didn't really know what he was doing, but Han stayed where he was until Luke stopped crying, and then until he fell asleep. Carrying Luke to the spare room was easier than he’d thought-- he knew Tatooine was short on nutrients but still, the kid was tiny. 

It wasn’t until Han had laid the blanket over a still-asleep Luke that he noticed Ben sitting across the room and watching him.

“This proves nothing.” 

“Of course not.”


End file.
